Vortex or Mod Organizer 2?

[Acesof4]

Hey guys, I have just recently started using Loverslab and I was wondering which mod manager do you use?

I am currently using Vortex and already have a lot of mods installed there from Nexus.

Would this be ok when using Loverslab mods? Or should I transfer to Mod Organiser 2?

Also I am a complete noob with this, so don't also know how to transfer from different mod managers. Is it easy or difficult? Is it even worth it?

[Just Don't]

1 hour ago, Acesof4 said:

I am currently using Vortex and already have a lot of mods installed there from Nexus.

Best thing you can do now is learn how to use it. Switching to a different mod manager won't be inherently better, in fact you'll need to learn and start from square one for no real benefit.

 

There is a video series on youtube by Gopher about Vortex. There are other video series and guides that can help you get the basics. After that it's a matter of reading each mod description and follow any install/configuration instructions. LL mods aren't anything different to regular mods, except you'll need to manually download them, after that Vortex can handle them as any other mod.

 

edit: oh you're the guy with the SOS crash. Okay, definitely learn how to use your mod manager. Like I told you 2-3 times before, you need to verify you're using the XPMSSE skeleton instead of the ones from SOS. And that means using your mod manager features properly. That's the whole trick to get SOS working as intended.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Just Don't

[Snoopy911]

Tried Mod Organizer once but found it a little bit complicated to get started.

If you want to install mods from other sources as nexus, put them into your vortexdownloads\skyrim folder and you can install them like downloads form nexus.

You can see the full path, checking your current vortex settings, the downloads tab. If you are used to vortex already i wouldn't switch.

Running about 150 mods, about half from nexus, half from here and had no problems using vortex yet.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Snoopy911
I'm too stupid to type

[Elizinator]

i switched to MO years ago when i did a fresh install, and stuck with MO2 the most recent time. as has been mentioned, its best to not switch. While MO2 may be complicated, its features can be extremely useful. I say this knowing nothing about Vortex other than its association with Nexus. so take this grain of salt with a grain of salt.

[Acesof4]

22 hours ago, Just Don't said:

you need to verify you're using the XPMSSE skeleton instead of the ones from SOS. And that means using your mod manager features properly. That's the whole trick to get SOS working as intended.

Ok so in order to do that, I need to make sure that XPMSSE is loading in first before SOS in the load order. Is that right?

 

Also if possible, can you show me your load in order (regardless of the mods you have installed), I might try and copy it to see if it makes the difference with SOS.

 

Furthermore, I have read the thread with SOS and it says there are lots of CTD's people are experiencing, so could this be part of the reason why my game crashes?

[Just Don't]

21 minutes ago, Acesof4 said:

Ok so in order to do that, I need to make sure that XPMSSE is loading in first before SOS in the load order. Is that right?

That would have the completely opposite effect you want. Loadorders work from top to bottom, with the latest plugins overwriting things loaded before. But skeletons are not part of the loadorder, so you need to do that in another part of Vortex. And for that -seriously- all you need to do is learn how to use your mod manager. Go read some tutorials, go watch the Gopher series, invest some time learning now and save yourself from hours of problems ahead.

 

28 minutes ago, Acesof4 said:

Also if possible, can you show me your load in order (regardless of the mods you have installed), I might try and copy it to see if it makes the difference with SOS.

Possible yes. Would it be of any use to you? I doubt it. LOOT exists, and Vortex has its own loadorder sorting done via LOOT behind the curtains. Changing things based on another person's loadorder would likely cause other issues in the way.

 

Switching to MO2 will likely result in similar or new issues, as you'll be even more clueless about how to use it. Taking care of this is a matter of seconds, learning to fix it would take you a few minutes (or about an hour if you go for some videos instead of written instructions). Instead you've done none of that and have been stuck with this issue for about 2 days now. I don't want to discourage or insult you. I'm just being very insistent in the idea the best approach here is to learn instead of asking for different solutions for the same problem.

[Acesof4]

51 minutes ago, Just Don't said:

That would have the completely opposite effect you want. Loadorders work from top to bottom

HEY! It worked finally HAHA! My char penis goes hard during sex scenes and the animations is there and everything....

 

My game also doesn't crash anymore.

 

The only issue I have now is that there is 2 penises lmao, one that goes hard and the other that doesn't...

 

Still not 100% correct but I guess I'm on the right track. As the game no longer crashes and the animation is actually there.

 

Any ideas on what could be causing the double penis? I will do some more research tomorrow and see what the issue is with my mods.

 

[Acesof4]

58 minutes ago, Just Don't said:

I don't want to discourage or insult you

Don't worry about it bro, I know you're only trying to help... I'm sure in the future when I get better at modding there will be another noob asking stupid simple questions that I may be able to help them out with based on my own experiences.

 

I'm not done yet as SOS is not 100% working, but it is working and thanks for the support so far!

[Just Don't]

59 minutes ago, Acesof4 said:

Any ideas on what could be causing the double penis? I will do some more research tomorrow and see what the issue is with my mods.

 

That usually means you have Better males or a similar mod on top of SOS. Mods like better males replace the entire male body with a static model including an also static penis, then SOS applies its own dynamic schlong on top of the static mesh. Remove any other mod affecting the male body. You only need SOS and if you want to, alternate textures (not meshes) that must be compatible with SOS.

[delgathar]

MO2 is better for conflict resolution, cherry picking mod components, and multiple load profiles.  Have a SFW and NSFW load, go MO2.

 

But generally, if you have relatively small loads or no real problems then Vortex is fine.  But if you want to identify file conflicts by file instead of by mod MO2 is better.  Vortex will show you a list of files, but you can't interact with that list. In MO2 you can interact with the list.

 

It's really in conflict resolution that MO2 outshines Vortex.  Otherwise, they are both comparable, just different.

[Kelvryn]

The only stupid question is a question not asked. If you have questions this is the place to ask them.

 

To learn more about modding watch Gopher's Beginner's Guide to Modding Skyrim, Gamer Poet's How to Mod SKYRIM SE. Also check out their playlists for more interesting info.

[MrFuturehope]

If you're a complete noob, I recommend you to stick with Vortex. Despite the popular belief that Vortex is hard to manage (you can't easily move individual mods up and down in the load order like you can do in some other mod managers), Vortex still has a lot of good features to offer which are priceless for noobs thanks to the modern and intuitive user interface. Some people will tell you to avoid Vortex because it doesn't use virtual directories or hardlinks for easy mod activation and deactivation, but it actually does have it and uses that by default, so I don't know why this lie has become so popular... Anyway, Mod Manager 2 probably still offers some advanced features that are beyond reach in Vortex, but obviously it's not for everyone, either because no everyone needs / wants to use those advanced features or it's too complicated for noobs to be bothered with. This may be my subjective feeling, but I've seen many people who use Mod Manager 2 to complain about various problems with mods / mod conflicts, game crashes and other issues, but very few complaints from people using the same mods, just with Vortex instead, so that's also something to consider. Ultimately, if you feel like it and have enough spare time you can try Mod Manager 2 and see if it fits you better, you can always go back to Vortex if you don't like it. In my case, I do believe I tried MO 2 long time ago, but now I'm using Vortex and sure it's not perfect, but for my current needs it's sufficient and I'm too lazy to start experimenting with something new with uncertain results.

Edited June 24, 2021 by MrFuturehope

[HentaiGnome]

Get ready for a long post...

 

Having used Vortex for almost two years now (up until recently, more on that soon), I can confidently say that it's a viable mod manager and I would encourage anyone to use it especially if they're new to modding. I've never had any major issues with it and those who claim to have problems I can assure that 99% of the time it's due to user error (like with most things) or some kind of mod conflict, and NOT due to the mod manager itself.

 

Okay, so what about the alternatives?

 

Wrye Bash is super useful but only if you take advantage of bashed patches, personally speaking I've never found myself needing a bashed patch and I have hundreds of mods installed, almost 1000 total hours of playthroughs, all of which have been stable - no bashed patch needed whatsoever. If anything, perhaps ironically, the only other reason why I would choose Wrye Bash is if you're playing older BGS games, like Oblivion or Fallout 3, since the newer mod managers seem to have issues dealing with the older methods used back then.

 

How about NMM? It's pretty much superseded by Vortex at this point. Yes, I'm aware that there's an unofficial community-supported version of it, but if you're willing to risk it then you're on your own should any issues arise. Most people have moved on to other mod managers at this point and honestly the alternatives are better anyway, which leads me to...

 

MO2, which imo is probably the only true competitor to Vortex since it's had many years to mature. Got an issue? There's an answer for it already. The only thing you have to wrap your head around is the virtual system that it uses. As long as you're aware of that, you can easily navigate through the mod manager. This is important because often times people wonder why none of the changes they make to their mods or INIs aren't taking into effect. Well, yeah, that's because they're technically editing the wrong files. Remember: Virtual system; i.e., you gotta edit the files hosted within the virtual system, not from your actual game/document directories.

 

Now personally, I've been using Vortex for quite a while now and it wasn't until a month ago that I switched over to MO2, which I only did it for two reasons:

1) MO2 doesn't require hard links (because it uses a virtual system) and therefore it keeps my game's directories clean. The only things that I manually placed there are SKSE and ENB-related files, as well as my own personal .bat files, but nothing else.

2) MO2 does not need the extra step of "deploying" the mods after installing them, unlike with Vortex. The issue with this deployment process is time. With only a few mods it's no big deal, but once you get to like the 100+ range it could easily take 15 to 30 seconds (or more) for the deployment process to finish.

 

The reasons I posted above should NOT deter you from using Vortex however, as I've already mentioned that it's a reliable mod manager. I only went with MO2 recently because of said reasons, nothing more. Let me put it this way: If one day MO2 disappeared from our reality and I was forced to use Vortex, I would be just as happy. And also, need I remind people that the head developer for Vortex is the same guy that mostly worked on MO2? So you can pretty much bet that Vortex is a solid mod manager handled by a seasoned developer that knows what he's doing. And because it's relatively new, Vortex is still being actively being worked on, so that's something to consider too.

Edited June 24, 2021 by HentaiGnome

[Guest]

This is going to be a long one. Bare with me.

 

Spoiler

Use what ever works for you....

 

Edited June 24, 2021 by Guest

[HentaiGnome]

3 hours ago, MrFuturehope said:

Some people will tell you to avoid Vortex because it doesn't use virtual directories or hardlinks for easy mod activation and deactivation, but it actually does have it and uses that by default, so I don't know why this lie has become so popular...

 

By that I think what people are referring to is the fact that Vortex does indeed edit your actual game directories whereas MO2 doesn't. At the end though, it doesn't really matter if you use Vortex or MO2, both are solid mod managers imo.

[Guest]

I am not able to contribute much, only my experience.

Now i am not sure if i used Vortex wrong but i had several headaches with enabling mods. Sometimes they weren't so i had to do it again. Then the mod actually worked. Also installing Bodyslides was quiet a pain for me.

MO2 seems a lot easier to me. But as was mentioned, you got to learn the software in how to use it and how it works.

And i admit that i may not used Vortex correctly. I dunno.

After month playing with MO2, its just so easy now. Now i even did profiles which i hadn't touched before. Really great feature.

What speaks for MO2 (imho) is that it does not mess with the game directory. So no files from some mod clutter around and get forgotten or mess with the game. But everyone to its own. Whatever feels better is good.

Cheers

 

p.s. I found GamerPoets really helpful in setting up Vortex.

Edited June 24, 2021 by wutpickel
adding

[HentaiGnome]

6 minutes ago, wutpickel said:

Now i am not sure if i used Vortex wrong but i had several headaches with enabling mods. Sometimes they weren't so i had to do it again. Then the mod actually worked.

 

It's funny, but you're not the first person to have reported this and I'm not sure why it seems more prevalent in Vortex because I've actually run into the same issues with MO2, yet I've only experienced it once or twice with Vortex. And I think it may have something to do with editing an esp file during the installation process. It's almost random at best.

 

OR it could just simply be the fact that people may have forgotten the extra step of deploying their mods. But then again, to be fair with Vortex, there's a fail-safe system put in place that prevents you from starting up your game anyway until you've successfully deployed it, so I dunno lol.

Edited June 24, 2021 by HentaiGnome

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, HentaiGnome said:

 

It's funny, but you're not the first person to have reported this and I'm not sure why it seems more prevalent in Vortex because I've actually run into the same issues with MO2, yet I've only experienced it once or twice with Vortex. And I think it may have something to do with editing an esp file during the installation process. It's almost random at best.

 

OR it could just simply be the fact that people may have forgotten the extra step of deploying their mods. But then again, to be fair with Vortex, there's a fail-safe system put in place that prevents you from starting up your game anyway until you've successfully deployed it, so I dunno lol.

I kind of only experimented it with Vortex. With MO2 i did not have that particular issue, yet.

But i have to say, that i am not ruling out that i did it wrong. The deploy will nag you, so you can not miss it. At the time i just disabled and enabled it again. I thought it was a bug. Maybe?

[HentaiGnome]

7 minutes ago, wutpickel said:

I kind of only experimented it with Vortex. With MO2 i did not have that particular issue, yet.

But i have to say, that i am not ruling out that i did it wrong. The deploy will nag you, so you can not miss it. At the time i just disabled and enabled it again. I thought it was a bug. Maybe?

 

Honestly, it could be anyone's guess at this point lol. But ever since then, I've made it a point to always check my plugins window and hit the option that enables all mods. This practice has prevented me from dealing with that situation ever again. A bit annoying to be honest, but I've grown used to it. I just think of it as being a responsible mod user lol.

[MrFuturehope]

I kinda wish Vortex had more flexibility when it comes to keeping the directories of the game clean, but then again, you can wipe everything with one click and also restore your mod list with one click, so that's something useful too and it also has profiles which are pretty easy and straightforward to use.

[Guest]

My lessons are, keep a backup of the game (pre mod version). No fun to download 80GB of Steam. Having an extra hard-drive to store this kind of data is essential in my opinion.

[WanderLustRedux]

It's worth learning how to use MO2 as it makes conflict resolution much easier. I don't really see any advantage to vortex besides MAYBE ease of use, but the ease of use will go out the window as soon as you run into an issue you need to troubleshoot. 

[jfraser]

I still just use NMM. Easier than either MO or V. I don't need whistles and bells.

[fred200]

Something no one has mentioned: The person that wrote MO 2, Tannen, is also the person who wrote Vortex.

Vortex fixes all the problems he found with the MO 2 implementation, like his own Virtual File System, and replaced it with Windows supported hard links.

MO 2 has to be running while your game runs, for VFS support. With Vortex, your game runs fine with Vortex stopped.  That is a lot easier on your ram.

 

Oh - and friends don't let friends use NMM... Even Fluffy and Frosty are better than that (for specific games).

Edited June 28, 2021 by fred200

[fred200]

And what is so bad about NMM you may ask.

NMM, unlike the other major mod managers, actually copies your mods to the game directory. Bad idea for a lot of reasons.

Say you have two mods, A and B. They share one file in common, C.

So you install A which includes file C.

Now you install mod B, which overwrites file C.

What an awful mod - it makes my nose blue. So I uninstall it.

There goes Mod B. There goes File C.

Mod A is broken, although it may take you awhile to notice it. It is missing File C, with no way to fix it without reinstalling the mod.

Just one simple example.